Sastra Deemed University celebrated National Science Day virtually. Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, while speaking on the occasion, said, “Universities play a key role in building strong capabilities in research and innovation by nurturing and igniting young minds to move in the path of scientific excellence.” Swarup highlighted that the nation’s scientific growth is a reflection of the ecosystem and is evident from the surge in innovation index and the number of start-ups.
She outlined the nation’s impetus on research, innovation, translation, and delivery that has put us in a position of exponential changes. While touching upon the international collaborations, she highlighted the transformation of the nation’s role from consumers to co-developers of technology. Swarup appreciated the contribution of Indian scientific community in developing the vaccine for Covid-19.
Sastra awards
Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam,Vice-Chancellor, Sastra University, welcomed the audience. As a part of Science Day celebrations, Dr Renu Swarup presented the Sastra-G N Ramachandran Award to Prof Ajay Kumar Ghatak, formerly Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; the Sastra-Obaid Siddiqi Award to Dr Gitanjali Yadav, National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi; and Sastra-C N R Rao award for chemistry and materials science for the year 2021 to Prof A K Ganguli, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Prof G Mugesh, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Each award carries a cash prize of ₹5 lakh and a citation.
Dr Renu Swarup also inaugurated the technology business incubator ABLEST (Association for Bio-Inspired Leaders and Entrepreneurs) at Sastra, established at a cost of ₹7 crore with the support of BIONEST programme of Department of Biotechnology and Sastra.
Sastra, along with Chandrasekhar Foundation, instituted Sastra-Prof Saroj Chandrasekhar Memorial award to recognise and reward women candidates in their third or fourth year of their doctoral programme. For the year 2021, three candidates, Madhu Chaturvedi, Sayantani Sinha, and Nishant Manzar were presented with a cash prize of ₹1,00,000 each. In addition to that, two candidates, Ramya and Akansha Onkar, were presented with honourable mention and a cash prize of ₹50,000 each, and Roohi Mohi with special mention and cash prize of ₹25,000.